


Safe are these hands that hold the right gun

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Anger Management, Beating, Blood and Gore, Brother-Sister Relationships, Desert Road Trip AU, Desperation, Disabled Character, Gen, Hostage Situations, Identity Issues, Insults, Minor Original Character(s), Rescue Missions, Scars, Self Confidence Issues, Starvation, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 11:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16325324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: When Nisha and Athena don't come back from a routine scavenging mission, it's up to Tim and Angel to step up to the plate and save their asses for once. Let's just hope they're up to the challenge.(set in the AU of Purple, Effervescing, Sick by fashionablesnider. It's really good and much better than this, I suggest you go check it out!!)





	Safe are these hands that hold the right gun

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fashionablesnider](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fashionablesnider/gifts).



> Happy (belated?) Birthday to my best friend Bec. I've had this written for ages and everything but when your birthday came up, I just forgot to post it, sorry!! This is set in the theme of their Desert Road Trip AU so if none of this makes sense, it's mostly for them and I apologise. Bec, if you're reading this, I love you with all my heart and I hope this fic does both your birthday and your AU justice, despite how shit it may be.
> 
> I'm not great at tagging, so if there is anyone who reads this and is triggered at all, I apologise and advance and please let me know so I can add these to the existing tags, but really it's just what's in the tags already.

Pulling down his goggles further over his eyes, Tim marched his way through the sand, Angels hand in his. The dust storm was stronger than he expected, and he held Angel close as though he were afraid she would blow away. A few days without food or sleep would do that to you, Tim supposed, made you paranoid and jumpy and snappy for all the wrong reasons that nobody wants in an enclosed van with 4 people.

They had been trying to ration their food for the past week, trying not to starve just until they could get to the next town and search for rations. When they had run out of food, they had all voted to give what was remaining to one person, enough to last them until they could get more. The next town was a few days away, they reasoned, a week at most. They could go a week without food.

They didn’t need a discussion to decide that they were giving it to Angel, almost instantly preparing themselves for the long wait. The last few days, there had been less and less food in the little satchel, emptying completely a few days ago until even Angel had to go a day without anything to eat.

Nisha was getting crabby, but Tim couldn’t blame her. They all were, but Nisha proclaimed that she wasn’t going to wait any longer than she had to. After driving them towards the end of a cliff with the order for Tim and Angel to stay there until they get back, she had grabbed a flashlight and extra ammo, her and Athena trudging their way towards the town, apparently just over the sand dunes the size of space stations.

Nisha and Athena hadn’t come back, and as though the gods were looking down on Tim, watching his life unfold and all the horrors and torment he had faced, the second they made it to the top of the cliff- a sandstorm started.

Now, Tim and Angel huddled close together as Tim dragged them both behind a rocky outcropping, giving them both time to catch their breath, Angel hacking and rubbing the dust from her eyes. Big fat tears rolled down her face from the stinging of the sand in her eyes, her skin red. She grits her teeth, spat instantly back into the gravel. “I’ve got sand in my mouth,” she grumbled, whipping her face.

Pulling the pack off of his shoulders, Tim riffled through until he found his other mask, placing it over Angel's face before she could question him, ruffling her hair to get some sand out. “Hop on my back,” He called to her over the wind. “Carry the backpack, and close your eyes.”

She blinked, looking around as though she could find some sort of argument. “Can I have something to drink first?” She asked quietly, eyes digging holes in the sand. Tim pulled out the water flask, handing it to Angel and looking away as she drank. When she handed it back, it was empty.

Putting it back in the pack, Tim held his hand out to her. “Pass me your crutches.” He said, watching her slowly take them off from around her arms and placing them in his hands. He slipped them into the pack as well and closed the zip so only the ends stuck out. They couldn’t bring her wheelchair up the cliff, deciding to leave it in the boot of the van instead of lugging it all the way, using the crutches just so she could have some stability in the shifting sands.

Handing her the backpack, Tim shook out his shoulders as Angel put it on, adjusting the straps. She gently climbed onto his back, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders and closing her eyes, ducking her head down. He stood, feet nearly sliding out from underneath him.

The sand stung the few sections of exposed flesh on his face, searing the vault symbol on and igniting it in another bout of burning agony, grains getting stuck in the rough divot, flaring the skin.

 _One foot in front of the other_ , he silently reminded himself, keeping one eye on the storm and the other on his feet quickly disappearing into the sand with each step forward.

Tim didn’t even notice when the winds had let up enough to see, enough to walk through without being blown back. Didn’t notice the warm glow from the town in front of them, gaggles of laughter and mockery. Didn’t notice until Angel reached up to put her whole hand over his face, and Tim for a moment thought she was trying to suffocate him, so he stopped. “Look,” she whispered into his ear, sending shivers through him. “Do you think that’s where Nisha and Athena went?”

Dropping Angel, Tim crouched slowly towards the edge of a cliff, overshadowed by metal panels and rusted wreckage, sharp and jagged pieces of ore sticking out at random places and Tim made sure Angel didn’t cut herself on the shards of glass on the floor. Peering out, Tim could definitely see the pointed outline of Nisha and Athena, tied back to back with barbed wire that was steadily digging hard into their skin and drawing dark yet constant rivulets of blood down their arms, Nisha’s cowboy hat discarded unceremoniously in the dust. A raging pier burned high on either side of them, smoke spiralling into the night sky and glowing embers floating downwards to land on their skin. They were surrounded by gangs of men with their faces covered by bandanas, not too dissimilar to Tim’s own, but instead of plain, theirs were covered in blood and dirt and grime of being a bandit out in this kind of environment.

Tim lifted his goggles up, rifled through the backpack Angel had already taken off and dumped on the sand. She looked intimidating, the mask hiding the lower half of her face, her eyes hidden in shadow. Her hair was long and matted, and Tim made a mental note to see if they could do something about it when they were all safe.

Pulling out their guns, Tim held them while Angel stretched her legs, trying to get the feeling back from having them tucked where they were on him for however long they were climbing. His _M_ _iss Moxxi’s Good Touch_ an accustomed weight in his hands, the bright pink welcoming, the unstoppable blush creeping up to his cheeks, all normal- all his. Angels _Im_ _petuous Hellfire,_ however, with its garish yellows and blues was as unfamiliar to him as his own face pre-surgery. Tim bit his tongue. He didn’t want to think about it.

He handed Angel her Maliwan, admiring how powerful she looked, a gun in her hands and a fire in her eyes. “Right,” he whispered, hoisting his gun. “Stay here and act as a backup, I’ll go in and see if I can get them out. I’ll take down as many as I can, but just cover me if it gets too bad, ok?”

She nodded. “Be careful. I don’t want to lose my big brother before you can teach me how to talk to girls.” She winked, a smug smile on her face.

Grinning, Tim reached over and ran his fingers over the shorter part of her hair, the implants cool under his fingers, “We wouldn’t want that,” he chuckled “I better be _super_ careful then.” They both know that Tim can’t talk to girls, both know that whenever Moxxi walks past him he turns into a stuttering drooling mess, asking inappropriate questions and turning as pink as his gun. And god forbid if he tipped her. Nisha has had to drag him away by his collar, his legs stiff and glued to the spot.

But it was always nice to pretend.

Arming his gun, Tim slowly wandered out further away from Angel, looking back to see her crouch down with her eyes on the scene and her gun pointing out from between a crack. A gun was aimed at Nisha’s head, her eyes cocky and unafraid.

“Shut the fuck up and tell us what you’re doing here!” The Bandit barked, spit flying from his open maw and landing on Nisha. She just raised an eyebrow.

“We told you,” Athena sighed from behind Nisha, exasperated. “We were just looking for supplies. If we had known you were here, we would have-.” Nisha elbowed her and Athena fell silent.

“What we’re doing here,” she drawled, looking the grotesque man up and down like a piece of meat she was bartering the price of. “Is none of your damn business. I suggest you untie us until we rip you apart, piece by filthy piece.”

The bandit howled with laughter, tipping his head back until she could see the veins on his neck bulge painfully and disturbingly through his dirty skin marred with scars as he gipped the gun tighter. The Hyperion pistol aimed straight at Nisha’s head made his blood run cold, but Nisha seemed to take it in her stride. Shooting a look at Athena, disclosed she also had a gun pointed at her. “Listen, cowgirl,” said like a curse, a mockery, an insult. Nisha grinned, wide and wild. “You don’t call the shots here. I do. And you do _not_ get to tell me what to do.”

“You’re not doing a very good job of it.” Nisha baited, sizing him up and obviously believing she could win. The bandit reached down and slapped her, forcing her neck sharply to the side and she spat out blood as she laughed. “Is that all you’ve got?”

Athena groaned from behind her. “Nisha, shut up.” She mumbled.

“Listen, bitch, you say another word and I’ll be putting a bullet straight through your eye socket and eat your innards _myself_.”

There was nothing for a few moments but blissful silence, the heavy breathing of the crazy man with a gun, the swaying of the houses in the whistling wind and Tim’s own heartbeat, thumping loudly in his ears. Tim watched as Nisha’s grin grew feral, saw her put her shoulders back and her head high, saw meet the barrel of the gun and draw in a breath. Tim quietly cocked his gun.

Nisha met the bandit’s eyes. “Another. Word.”

“That’s it!” he yelled, flying into a blind rage which had Nisha cackling and the man reload his gun with the thrumming of recharge and the crackle of old broken wires.

 _Now or never_ , Tim thought, before standing and sprinting halfway down the hill, his gun at the ready. “H-Hey fellas.” He stammered as bravely as he could, hoisting his gun up until it was eye level with the bandit with the skin-popping veins. “How about you pick on someone who isn’t tied up and a better fighter than you could ever hope to be, and sit there and get your ass kicked by me instead?”

Levelling his gun with the bandit’s head, Tim pressed the trigger, a red bolt going straight down the sight of his gun, in through the Bandits eye and out the other side of his head, shattering into the shed behind him. Tim couldn’t believe he got so lucky as the man fell to the floor dead.

All the bandits levelled their guns at him, and Tim turned the crank on his gun, ready to fight.

A fiery blast came from behind Tim, a bandit’s gun flying out of their hand and the skin catching on fire. They searched in confusion as the bandit attempted to put out the flames, the group searching over the hills behind Tim in search of a larger army.

Another blazing shot and a bandit screamed and fell to the floor, gripping his arm which now ended in a charred stump, flames licking over the skin like butterflies on flowers and cauterising the wound before any blood could spill.

Looking at their fallen team-mate, some of the bandits turned around and ran. One kicked Nisha’s gun right next to her leg in their haste, and Nisha struggled to reach it. Athena was looking at Tim with concern and fear, but he gave her a thumbs up to let her know he was alright.

Ducking as a round went off, Tim raised his gun and fired back at the group, hitting a few men as he sprinted down the hill. Angel covered him from behind, hitting the men closest and most violent, knocking them down and sending them back down where they came from.

Athena was kicking a sickly bandit away with her foot, gritting her teeth at the drool and snot dripping down the exposed parts of her leg through the ripped fabric. She kicked until the bandit fell back, unconscious.

A bandit ran past her, and Nisha used her teeth to grab a knife from his belt, pulling it from its sheath and dropping it behind her into her hands so she could slowly hack at the rusted wires, blood dripping more violently down her arms as she moved and the barbs cut deeper into her skin.

“Whatever you’re planning, Tim,” Athena shouted, ducking as a bandit sailed over her head and into a pyre. “Do it quick.”

“Don’t worry,” Tim assured her, performing a leap he didn’t think was possible, flipping through the air and shooting a bandit in the chest. He was more surprised when he landed on his feet and continued running down the hill, instead of snapping his ankles. He had felt like saying something about how ‘he’s fought tougher guys before’, but those thoughts flew out of his head and in its place he grinned and kept running. “The body double gig taught me a few tricks!”

Nisha laughed, loud and hysterical.

Reaching the bottom of the hill, Tim fired off a few more rounds before he rushed to Nisha and Athena, putting his back to them and firing any approaching men.

“Tim!” Nisha shouted, her prior laughter gone, making Tim jump. “What are you doing? Don’t protect us! Lead them _away_ from us! You’re the one with the gun, they’re after _you_!”

“Oh, right,” Tim apologised sheepishly. “Sorry, Nisha.”

He reloaded and twisted away, ducking and dodging bullets and knives and the ugly popping yellow of the nauseating Hyperion guns, shooting rounds off into faces and chests and stomachs and feeling sick down to his toes at the sight of it all.

He ran backward and onto a jump pad, screaming in surprise and fear as he was rocketed into the air. “Ah!” He screamed, quickly aiming his gun back down and shooting the men below him. “I fucking hate heights! Why's it always gotta be heights?”

Angle's onslaught of ammo paused, and the bandits rushed up the hill, not giving Angel time to reload. Bullets buried into the flesh of his shoulder and deep into the meat of his belly, but Tim ignored it and shot towards the men on his decent, nailing each one in the head or back, causing them to collapse to the ground in a heap of useless limbs.

“You ok Angel?” He called as he landed, blasting a crawling bandit in the head at point blank range.

“I’m fine!” She shouted as she continued shouting. “My gun got jammed. All good now.”

Tim sighed out through his nose. Catching sight of a knife by his feet, Tim picked it up and sprinted over to his friends to cut them loose, dropping his gun by his side and using both hands to hack though the wire. “It’ll be quicker if I do it,” he hissed to Nisha as she began to complain. “I have two free hands; you have two tied behind your back. Just let me help just this once.” Nisha kept her mouth shut.

Suddenly, a foot kicked Tim’s gun away, and the barrel of a shotgun was pressed sharply between his shoulder blades. Tim froze. “Put your hands up and turn around.” Tim put his hands behind his head, biting his lip to hold back the whimper from his shoulder, and shuffled around on his knees to face the man, feeling a small tinge of smugness. Which wasn’t like him, but he held his bravado.

The bandit was missing his right arm, his left eye and ear, some of the flesh on his chest, blood dripping all down his torso and landing in a puddle where he stood. Tim thought maybe it was a second in command, as big and burley as the leader. _The one who slapped Nisha and tied them up,_ he thought, and he balled his hands into fists behind his head. “You have some nerve, coming here.” He growled, jabbing the tip of the gun into the bullet hole in Tim’s stomach, making him lean away and sit on his hunches, grunting. “Thinking you can just take what you what? That’s not how it works bucko.”

Tim drew in a breath, eyes barrelling holes into the floor as he concentrated, relaxed his shoulders and laced his fingers together. When he looked back up, he had plastered on the too-wide and too-sharp fake Jack smile that he had perfected over the years, meeting the bandit's eye. He felt like gagging, the realization of what he was going to do- what he promised himself he was never going to do ever again washing over him and he was drowning in it. “Well, darlin’.” He drawled, totally unconvincing and with fake daring dripping from his every word, using every technique he could remember over the long years of impersonating a monster and getting away with it. “You obviously don’t know who we are.”

Acid burned in his throat, wasn’t sure if it was the broken modulator acting up again or the memories of the lies he had done too many times before, the lives ruined and the people forgotten. The mantra _I’m not Jack, I’m not Jack, I’m not Jack_ repeating over and over again like the gravitational pull of the moon. Tim had the sudden urge to throw up.

“Oh?” The bandit asked, twisting the gun. Tim held his breath and didn’t make a sound. Behind him, Tim heard Nisha let out a whispered _yes!_ And he felt her slowly untangle herself from the wire. “And who are you? A bunch of no-good kids who think they can get away with whatever they want?”

Tim threw his head back and laughed, bringing it up from deep in his belly and forcing it out long and rough, buying Nisha time to grab her gun from beside her feet. Tim reasoned that the bandit didn’t shoot him yet out of curiosity, and he used that to his advantage. “Oh, you poor, poor soul.” Tim slowly looked the man in the eye. He wanted to spit out the poison that was a dead man’s voice, but he held it together.  “We’re the ‘bunch of no-good kids’ who killed your leader and most of your men, and we’re the last thing you’re ever going to see.”

Nisha shot up to her knees and raised her purple _Dastardly Maggie_ and fired a single round between the bandit’s eyes, and he crumpled to the ground.   

Tim let out the breath he was holding, slowly leaning forward and putting his head in his hands. Nisha gently patted his back, careful of the blood-leaking bullet holes, and stood.

Groaning as she pulled barbs out of her arm, Athena surveyed the area. “Good job you two,” she chuckled to Tim. “You took care of it all by yourselves. Didn’t even really need us.”

Tim stopped gagging and shaking and slowly raised himself to his feet. “What can I say?” He laughed shakily, motioning to Angel that he was ok, to stay where she was. She gave a thumbs up in return. “We had great teachers.” Nisha snickered from behind him again as she began looting the bodies. 

He overlooked the carnage, the countless dead bodies in combining puddles of blood, the limbs scattered haphazardly across the battle field and Tim couldn’t tell which body parts belonged to which mattered corpse. “Have we got everything we need?” He asked, whipping a hand down his face and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Yeah,” Nisha replied, walking behind a blood-speckled building and pulling out three duffle bags packed to the brim with supplies. Tim sighed, relieved. “When we got here the place was empty. They arrived just as we were leaving, but we’ve got everything. Enough to last us week’s, I’ll say.”

Nodding, Tim turned around and picked his way through the bodies littered at his feet. “Let’s get out of here then.”

The climb up the hill was harder than Tim’s hurried decent down it, the trio carrying duffle bags and misplacing their footing on lose pebbles and shifting dirt. Angel was waiting for them at the top, helped heft them up the last few feet and volunteering to carry the back pack. “Thank gosh the sand storm stopped.” She sighed.

Nisha and Athena both looked up at Tim. “Sandstorm?” They chimed in unison.

Shaking his head, Tim continued walking. “I’ll tell you about it when we get back to the van.”

They walked in silence for a moment, nothing but their panting and the snarling of far-off creatures hidden in the darkness. “Hey Tim,” Nisha yawned, raising her arms above her head to stretch and breaking the silence. “You did pretty well back there. You did a really convincing job of not being scared. Hell, even I was convinced for a second.”

Tim laughed, spinning on his heel so he could look at them and walk backwards. “Well, every great actor has to have _some_ great moments, remember?”

Nisha and Athena exchanged looks, Angel stared at the holes her crutches were making in the sand. “Tim,” Athena started gently, “You’re not a-“ But Tim had already turned to face the front, whistling.

Putting her hand on Athena’s shoulder, Nisha shook her head, telling her to let it go. Angel gently pushed past them so she was walking next to Tim and she put her hand in his, using one crutch to walk and the other to slide and dangle down her arm. He squeezed her hand, she squeezed back.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to sleep.” Angle yawned, making Tim chuckle and ruffled her hair. “And you still need to teach me how to dirty talk.”

Nisha snorted. “Tim? Teach you how to dirty talk? Angel, you’re joking, you’re better off going to me or Athena if you wanna learn that crap.”

Tim looked at her, indignant. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You would struggle to dirty talk a clap trap, and they fall head over heels for anyone who gives them a job.”

Tim shivered, sticking his tongue out and fake retching. “Ugh… never give me that image again. I fucking hate those things, I’d rather smooth talk Wilhelm and he scares the crap out of me.”

Athena laughed. “Maybe Moxxi could give you a hand with that when we see her next?”

Tim’s ears turned a deep pink, heat burning in his cheeks, mumbling something about Janey teaching Athena some things as her and Nisha high-fived. Angel laughed and leant her head on Tim’s arm.

The sun was starting to rise, the van painted in pale pinks and light blues as the light shone off of its surface, and as they chucked their bags into the back and climbed in, for the first time in a very long while, since that fateful day back at Pandora, they felt…

Safe.

**Author's Note:**

> (I wasn't joking. I wrote it last year. It's not great but honestly, for what it is, I'm not mad at it)
> 
> Please tell me if there are any tags that need fixing because I can understand if these things might be triggering


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